Misdiagnosis of Heart failure
Alternative diagnoses list for Heart failure:
For a diagnosis of Heart failure,
the following list of conditions
have been mentioned in sources
as possible alternative diagnoses
to consider during the diagnostic process for Heart failure:
Diseases for which Heart failure may be an alternative diagnosis
The other diseases for which Heart failure
is listed as a possible alternative
diagnosis in their lists include:
Heart failure: Hidden Causes Misdiagnosed?
Causes of Heart failure may include these medical conditions:
Rare Types of Heart failure:
- Cocaine cardiomyopathy related cardiac failure
- Myocarditis related heart failure
- Myxedema related heart failure
- Polycythemia vera related heart failure
- Carcinoid syndrome related heart failure
- Thiamine deficiency related heart failure
- More rare types »
Heart failure Diagnosis: Book Excerpts
Heart failure: Medical Mistakes
Related medical mistakes may include:
Heart failure: Undiagnosed Conditions
Commonly undiagnosed conditions in related areas may include:
Discussion of diagnosis/misdiagnosis of Heart failure:
Tests help rule out other possible causes of symptoms. The symptoms of heart
failure can result when the heart is made to work too hard, instead of from
damaged muscle. Conditions that overload the heart occur rarely and include
severe anemia and thyrotoxicosis (a disease resulting from an overactive thyroid
gland).
(Source: excerpt from NHLBI, Heart Failure: NHLBI)
Common Misdiagnoses and Heart failure
Heart attacks can be undiagnosed: Although the most severe symptoms of heart attack are hard to miss,
there are varying degrees of severity.
It is altogether too common for people to die from undiagnosed heart attack, or from delaying too long
to call for emergency help.
The prognosis for treatment is far better for patients treated in the early stages of a heart attack.
The most common misdiagnoses include heartburn, or other less severe causes of chest pain.
See the introduction to heart attack and the symptoms of heart attack.
Heart attacks can be overdiagnosed: Although many people die from heart attacks, there are also
many cases where people fear that they have a heart attack, but actually have something milder.
Some of the conditions which may be causes of chest pain, causing fear of a heart attack, including
an anxiety attack, heartburn, and so on.
See the causes of chest pain and the symptoms of heart attack.
Rare heart condition often undiagnosed: The rare heart condition called long QT syndrome can lead to episodes of palpitations
and rapid heartbeat.
In rare cases, this undiagnosed condition can be fatal.
It should be considered for any unexplained heart rhythm abnormality.
Heart attack can be over-diagnosed: Although heart attack is often undiagnosed,
leading to fatality, it can also be over-diagnosed.
People become concerned that a condition is a heart attack,
whereas there are various less dangerous possibilities.
After all, there are numerous causes of chest pain.
Some of the common conditions where a person may become concerned
about a possible heart attack include a panic attack (which often has
both chest pain and difficulty breathing), and heartburn/reflux type conditions.
Nevertheless, chest pain itself can be a potentially life-threatening symptoms,
and needs immediate professional attention.
Blood pressure cuffs misdiagnose hypertension in children: One known misdiagnosis issue
with hyperension, arises in relation to the simple equipment used to test blood pressure.
The "cuff" around the arm to measure blood pressure can simply be too small to accurately
test a child's blood pressure.
This can lead to an incorrect diagnosis of a child with hypertension.
The problem even has a name unofficially: "small cuff syndrome".
See misdiagnosis of hypertension.
Hypertension misdiagnosis common in children: Hypertension is often
misdiagnosed in adults (see misdiagnosis of hypertension), but its misdiagnosis is even more likely in children.
Some of the symptoms of hypertension that can be overlooked include chest pain, headaches, abdominal pain, etc.
See symptoms of hypertension or misdiagnosis of hypertension.
Heart failure: Rare Types
Rare types of medical disorders and diseases in related medical areas:
Medical news summaries about misdiagnosis of Heart failure:
The following medical news items
are relevant to misdiagnosis of Heart failure:
General Misdiagnosis Articles
Read these general articles with an overview of misdiagnosis issues.
About misdiagnosis:
When checking for a misdiagnosis of Heart failure
or confirming a diagnosis of Heart failure,
it is useful to consider what other
medical conditions might be possible misdiagnoses or other alternative
conditions relevant to diagnosis.
These alternate diagnoses of Heart failure may already have
been considered by your doctor or may need to be considered as possible
alternative diagnoses or candidates for misdiagnosis of Heart failure.
For a general overview of misdiagnosis issues for all diseases,
see Overview of Misdiagnosis.
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